By Gary Marshall
"In Depth: Which Android tablet is best for you?"
If you're looking for a tablet and don't fancy an iPad, then Android is the way to go: while Windows tablets are on the horizon, Android ones are here, they work and they've usually been tweaked to include finger-friendly interfaces too.
We've gone from zero Android tablets to stacks of the things in a very short space of time, and inevitably some are better than others.
Some have ten-inch screens, others seven and some just five, and there are big differences in battery life, processing power and on-board RAM. So which tablets are the most tempting? Let's find out.
1. Advent Vega.Tegra power and a ten-inch screen with a tiny price tag
The Advent Vega is the headliner – offering Android 2.2 as its operating system and boasting a 10.1-inch touchscreen with an nVidia Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz processor.
The Advent Vega also boasts a 4GB SD memory card as standard, has a battery life of up to 10 hours and is 14mm thick.
There is also a 1.3MP webcam and Wi-Fi capability
2. Archos 70.Small and light, but that seven-inch screen isn't as high-res as rivals
The Archos 70 offers 8GB Flash storage or a 250GB hard disk, a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, a front-facing VGA camera, HDMI output and an integrated kickstand. Unlike rivals, however, its seven-inch multi-touchscreen only offers 800x480 WVGA resolution and its processor is single core rather than dual core.
3. Archos 101.The Archos 70 with a bigger, better screen and a pretty good price
The 101 is essentially an Archos 70 with a bigger screen, a 10.1" capacitive multi-touchscreen delivering a useful 1,024x600 WXVGA. You get the same processor and graphics as the smaller 70, but instead of a hard disk version there are two flash-based ones offering 8GB and 16GB respectively.
4. Asus Eee pad.Delayed, delayed and delayed again, it's coming in early 2011. Maybe
Originally conceived as a Windows Embedded Compact 7 device, Asus dropped Windows for Android in July and now promises to ship its Eee Pad when Gingerbread, aka Android 3.0, comes out. Unless Asus has changed its mind, expect a 10-inch screen, low voltage Intel CULV processor and 10-hour battery life.
5. Dell Streak.Wish your phone was a bit more tablet-y? Then Dell has the device for you
Blurring the lines between smartphones and tablets, the Streak is just small enough to be the former and just big enough to be the latter. It runs a Qualcomm SnapDragon 8250 like many Android phones, offers an 800x480 WVGA touchscreen and its 16GB storage can be expanded via its MicroSD slot.
6. Elonex eTouch.A low, low price means you'll overlook the build quality and the odd compromise
It's not the best-built tablet out there - the 10.1-inch, 1,024x600 screen is a bit hazy, doesn't do multi-touch and occasionally misunderstood our gestures - but at £159 you can overlook the odd annoyance. Battery life isn't brilliant - 188 minutes on a good day - but as a no-frills, bargain basement device the eTouch isn't bad.
7. Notion Ink Adam.The Adam looks awesome on paper. We'll find out more in three weeks
With a UK release date of 25 November, Notion Ink promises a "revolutionary" 10.1-inch display offering 1,024x600 with a sunlight-friendly e-paper mode. The processor is a dual-core 1GHz Tegra, there's 1GB of RAM and you can choose from 16GB or 32GB of storage, expandable via MicroSD. Claimed battery life is 6 to 16 hours.
8. Samsung Galaxy Tab.The iPad's most obvious rival disappoints in several key areas
The closest thing to an Android-powered iPad is priced identically to the 3G iPad and delivers similar features, but we found web browsing to be sluggish, the screen disappointing and the device falling uncomfortably between two stools: it's too big to be a phone and a bit fiddly for a tablet.
9. Toshiba Folio 100.Toshiba quality, a decent spec and a fair price to boot
Toshiba knows tablets - it's been making Windows ones for years - and its Folio should be well screwed together. Essentially a cheaper iPad, the Wi-Fi-only Folio offers a 10.1-inch, 1,024x600 multi-touchscreen, a Tegra 2 processor, a seven-hour battery life, 1.3MP webcam and 16GB of Flash (expandable via MicroSD) for a pretty good price.
10. Viewsonic Viewpad 100.Windows and Android sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…
Here's a unique selling point: the Viewpad 100 dual-boots Android and Windows 7. Its 1.66GHz Intel Atom and 1GHz of RAM means it's really a netbook with a 10.1-inch touchscreen. There's 16GB of internal storage, MicroSD slot and a 1.3MP webcam, but the Android OS is the older 1.6 rather than the more recent Android 2.2.
